Capital MetroRail Set to open March 2010 - Austin, TX

Capital MetroRail Set to open March 2010 - Austin, TX

I wrote a blog post yesterday about a great condo we just listed for sale in North Austin.  It is right down the street from the new Howard Station for the Capital MetroRail.  It being one of the many great features of the area, I did some research about the rail system and when it will begin runnning.  It's been a target for harsh criticism over the last year or so.  The Capital MetroRail initially set to launch in the spring of 2009.  However, there were design flaws - the biggest had to do with warning gates for areas called "quiet zone".  As you can probably guess, these are areas near residential neighborhoods. 

According to the Capital MetroRail website, operations are set to begin next month (March 2010).  It will provide transportation from Leander thru north and east Austin into downtown.  The final station is located off 4th Street near the Austin Convention Center.  Each train can carry up to 200 passengers, and the travel time from end to end is just under an hour.  It'll be interesting to see what impact it has on commuter traffic and how well received it will be.  My best guess is that many people along the railway will want to use it. 

Initially, the Capital MetroRail will only run during the morning and afternoons.  Since it uses the same rail lines as freight trains, they cannot operate midday or evenings/weekends.  I would like to see city officials (and whoever controls railroad shipping) to work out an agreement to have more frequent shuttles and on the weekends.  There will be a high demand for citizens who want to use the trains on the weekends day and night.  Hopefully they will look to expand into south and west Austin over time.  But I guess I shouldn't get ahead of myself.  Many Austinites are for efficiency, and love the idea of implementing a widespread rail system.   I guess Stage 1 will need to get up running smoothly before a legitimate request for expansion spearheaded.

Photo credit:  http://allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/capital-metrorail-vehicles.shtml